Chinese Student And His Parents Are Charged In Iowa With Rape And Attempting To Bribe The Victim

Johnson County Sheriff's Office
Peng Tang, a 21-year-old student in the University of Iowa, has been charged with the first-degree kidnapping and attempting to bribe the alleged victim in a case that has become a big story in China, according to chinaSMACK.

Tang's parents, who arrived in Iowa on April 5, were also charged with attempting to bribe the alleged victim and are both being held at the county jail on $100,000 bonds.

Tang was charged on March 30 for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman while viewing her room for a potential sublease after responding to an ad she posted on the Chinese social network Renren.

The alleged victim told police that she was showing Tang her room when he locked the door, attempted to tie her hands behind her back, put a towel in her mouth and sexually assaulted her.

According to a Iowa City Police press release, Tang allegedly threatened the victim with a knife and took nude photos of the victim, threatening to post them on the Internet if she contacted police.

Tang reportedly admitted to police that he had sex with the woman, was carrying handcuffs and a knife, and placed his hand over the woman's nose and mouth to keep her from screaming.

Tang then reportedly sent a letter from the Johnson County jail to a friend asking his friend to find the victim and tell her that if she drops the charges, tells the police she lied and says that the sexual act was consensual, then "he can promise her anything."

Says one commenter on a Chinese news website: "Has to be the child of a government official or of the rich, used to running amok in China without consequences. Abroad, they won't tolerate this kind of behavior."